He left me in the lurch. Have you ever wondered what or where this lurch was? Me too. So I finally looked it up in my trusty ol' Webster's Unabridged. Of the several "lurch" entries (none of which involve the Addams' family butler), this phrase draws its meaning from

lurch ... [MF lourche, n., a game & lourche, adj. deceived, prob. of Gmc origin; akin to MHG lerz, lurz left, located on the left side ... 1 an act or instance of cheating; ... 2 an act or instance of discomfiture ...

3a: a decisive defeat in which a player wins a game by more than twice his opponent's score; specif a defeat in which a player wins a cribbage game before his opponent has progressed halfway toward the goal

I have played cribbage for many years, and I've never heard "lurch" used in this context. 'Round these parts, if you beat the opposition soundly, you skunk 'em; if you beat them by double the score, you double skunk 'em.

I'm with you on this one, Sparteye -- been playing cribbage for 50 years or more and never heard this. but when I google cribbage/lurch/skunk I get lots of hits at cribbage sites which claim lurch is another word for skunk.

I think I've read "He was lurched." meaning tricked/beaten by an opponent or enemy. I think I associated it with lurching to a halt but I didn't pay much attention at the time. Cribage was not involved.Crib is 121 to win and 90 is the skunk line. Would lurched be < 60?

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